SINGAPORE – Another 12 residents and two staff at a welfare home in Admiralty have tested positive for the Covid-19 infection, the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) said on Monday (April 27).

The residents and staff of Acacia Home are now warded at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, said the ministries in a joint statement.

The 15 residents and staff were tested for the virus on Sunday, after a 62-year-old resident of Acacia Home tested positive on Saturday night.

As a precautionary measure, a total of 167 people including 115 residents, 31 staff and 21 contractors who have been to the home to carry out essential work in the past four weeks were tested for the virus.

Apart from the 15 who tested positive, the remaining 153 tested negative. Contract tracing is ongoing, said MOH and MSF.

Acacia Home is a welfare home for destitute persons, and is managed by Sathya Sai Social Service and funded by MSF.

All the staff and residents of the home have been placed on quarantine. Residents will be quarantined in the Home and Sathya Sai Social Service will deploy staff from other facilities to ensure the Home continues operations as necessary.

The home has also been thoroughly cleaned and disinfected promptly, said MOH and MSF.

MSF said its immediate priority is to support the home, their staff and the residents.

“To safeguard their health and well-being, all staff are now required to use full personal protection equipment. All residents must now always wear a surgical mask. Since 25 April 2020, Acacia Home has stopped taking in new residents for the time being,” the ministry added.

MSF said it is monitoring the situation closely and will be stepping up checks.

It also reminded all homes to abide by the precautionary measures in the ministry’s advisories.

“Residential and community-based facilities are reminded to be vigilant when conducting health checks on staff and residents, and to observe high standards of personal and environmental hygiene,” the statement said.

“This includes keeping the facility’s environment clean, and frequent washing of hands with soap – especially before the preparation and consumption of meals, after toilet visits or when hands are dirtied by respiratory secretions after coughing or sneezing.”

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